Chapter 6

Elizabeth and Charlotte are talking about Jane (Elizabeth's sis) and Bingley (suitor). I suspect we can hear such an exchange in this time and day, albeit in less fancy language. Ah, the delicate balance between expression and constrain, between feelings and rationality!

It was generally evident whenever they met, that he did admire her and to her it was equally evident that Jane was yielding to the preference which she had begun to entertain for him from the first, and was in a way to be very much in love; but she considered with pleasure that it was not likely to be discovered by the world in general, since Jane united, with great strength of feeling, a composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner which would guard her from the suspicions of the impertinent. She mentioned this to her friend Miss Lucas.

It is clear that they liked each other, and Jane's interest-at-first-sight of him was deepening into love. But she was pleased with herself, thinking that she had managed to hide her feelings well enough so that no one knew.

“It may perhaps be pleasant,” replied Charlotte, “to be able to impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely—a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten a women had better show more affection than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.”

Charlotte said, "It is very bo-hua for her to be so shy, if she is not on enough about him, he will siam, then she will lugi. So she must fish him, then will he kenna conned."

“But she does help him on, as much as her nature will allow. If I can perceive her regard for him, he must be a simpleton, indeed, not to discover it too.”

"She does seduce him, but you can see how much ben3 qian2 she has. If I can sense she likes him, then he is lagi idiot if he dunno."

“Remember, Eliza, that he does not know Jane’s disposition as you do.”

"He is not so clever like you."

“But if a woman is partial to a man, and does not endeavour to conceal it, he must find it out.”

"If she is that obvious, then he must know."

“Perhaps he must, if he sees enough of her. But, though Bingley and Jane meet tolerably often, it is never for many hours together; and, as they always see each other in large mixed parties, it is impossible that every moment should be employed in conversing together. Jane should therefore make the most of every half-hour in which she can command his attention. When she is secure of him, there will be more leisure for falling in love as much as she chooses.”

"Maybe he will know if they can meet often. Most of the time they meet in a group with a lot of extras around, not enough time for them to buaya each other. If only they can have more time alone, like together in a room in Hotel 81…"

“Your plan is a good one,” replied Elizabeth, “where nothing is in question but the desire of being well married, and if I were determined to get a rich husband, or any husband, I dare say I should adopt it. But these are not Jane’s feelings; she is not acting by design. As yet, she cannot even be certain of the degree of her own regard nor of its reasonableness. She has known him only a fortnight. She danced four dances with him at Meryton; she saw him one morning at his own house, and has since dined with him in company four times. This is not quite enough to make her understand his character.”

"On la, I like it. If a super rich man is in target, I confirm use your strategy. She has only known him for 14 freaking days, how to know him inside out?"

“Not as you represent it. Had she merely dined with him, she might only have discovered whether he had a good appetite; but you must remember that four evenings have also been spent together—and four evenings may do a great deal.”

"Well she won't if they had merely eaten nasi, but if they had spend evenings together *wink*"

“Yes; these four evenings have enabled them to ascertain that they both like Vingt-un better than Commerce; but with respect to any other leading characteristic, I do not imagine that much has been unfolded.”

"No la, they are not so sui-bian."

“Well,” said Charlotte, “I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him to-morrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a twelvemonth. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”

"Good luck to Jane. I don't think time is an issue; happiness in marriage is all about heng-suay, like buying 4-D. You know the person well, but so what. You will soon find out more about his dirty habits, so it is better to be blissfully ignorant."

“You make me laugh, Charlotte; but it is not sound. You know it is not sound, and that you would never act in this way yourself.”

"Mai-pian-siao, you know that is boh-koh-leng."

When ignorance is bliss..

Asked boss what her weight was, now that she was 6-7months pregnant.

She gave me a number and my chin went to my chest (considerably difficult given its terrain): I'm heavier than a pregnant woman!

Yeah yeah I'm relatively tall, by 9cm.. BUT!

Sighs..

Pride and Prejudice - the movie

Remember one of those essay questions in school that says something like whether a movie adapted from a book can encourage people to read the book, or whether it is actually the easy way out for people who do not read books. It's the former for me, eg Harry Potter and now Everlasting Regret - bought the book in Taiwan and started it last week. But I'm going to pause this difficult book (traditional Chinese, vertical right-to-left read) and start on Pride and Prejudice - I must get the book today; I want to have a better picture of the whole story before I blog on it proper.

Still, I must first say that my fave character in the movie is Mr Bennet, just for these two lines from him to Elizabeth:

"Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins... And I will never see you again if you do."

Can't find the exact sentence but "I can't give you to anyone who is not worthy of you." Or something like that when she told him she would marry Darcy.

Kiv the rest.

mf decides!

mf: Let's meet at 730. You prefer Orchard or City Hall? You decide pls.

I had decided the time, and indicated options AND was specific that HE should decide, as I knew I was talking to an indecisive person but I didn't want to make unilateral decisions since it was he who asked to meet up. So all he had to do was to state either and end off with a "see you". Period. But no!

Him: Can la, either lor.

Wtf?! If I didn't state options, I bet he would have replied with "anywhere is fine"!

Is it a guy thing? That they want to appear nice and let their female companions decide everything since "they will veto us and decide on something they want anyway"? I can't stand this shit.

I replied with Orchard AND threw in the exact restaurant to save me from possible further agonisation, eg what shall we eat?!

From now on, I and I alone will decide e-ve-ry-thing. If you can't freaking make a decision of where to eat - you know, it's just food for a simple dinner, not some big occasion involving 300 people with varied dietary requirements - I will call the shots. And when I do, don't just complain that I'm always the one deciding and you don't get to choose; if you complain that you want a say too, jolly well have a suggestion ready!

过渡时期

是天气、季风？
还是逼近的圣诞、新的一年？
是口疮的不适加上PMS？
还是对人生的种种无奈？

近来总觉得累、觉得烦，唱歌或谈天也几乎没有意义。除了词句的发泄、炭笔的涂鸦，我什么都不想做，只想一个人享受自己的寂寞。

改写张清芳一首旧歌的歌词，“我想我早该出去走走”……

In the "why do people say ***" mood

Suddenly remember I once read in someone's blog (can't remember whose!) that people will ask after your friend/ beau/ family in the following manner:

What does he/she do?
Where does he/she live?
Is he/she good looking?

and not like this:

What is his/her voice like?
What does he/she do for leisure?
How about his/her dress sense?

Seems that we tend to be more superficial? Or perhaps it's simply strange for most to ask in the second way, which seems more personal and really, could be answered with "none of your business"!

Yet another random thought this Sunday morning..

Have a good day!

Variants:
Have a good week!
Have a great weekend!
Have a fun holiday!
Have a fantastic year ahead!
etc

Do you ever wonder why people say that, as in why just that day or week or specific time frame? What about the next day, week etc? I gather that if it goes on and on, might as well say have a good LIFE!

Just a fleeting thought..

Jiggle jiggle

Decision was to head for Zouk though there were only Sito and I on the confirmed list; wanted to check it out but in the end I thought it looked pretty much the same..?

1 - We noticed the jiggling girl on the central podium at about the same time. No wait, it wasn't a jiggling girl; should be jiggling bOObs! Obviously braless, she was shaking like nobody's business. Ok so it was nobody's business but we were laughing like mad! I rated her a B to C - perhaps closer to C. She was our entertainment for most of the night. (Oh, face not much to mention..)

2 - Then there was this guy dancing to a freaking pillar *.*

3 - Guy said, "Alone"? Well I don't know about you but I'm out with my friends - eh, friend! Ha, no I didn't say that but what kind of pick-up line was "alone?"! Not impressed. But Sito was quite shi xiang la, turned away when he saw the guy come near. Didn't need to label him gay :p

4 - Zoukout adverts were on the screen whole night. Dare I say it? Oh well.. It was only Thurs that I first knew Zoukout was to be held at Sentosa.. I know, very sua ku!!! *.*

5 - Was in bathroom queue when I thought of something: I love my pink stilettos! (Or stilettoes?) Considering getting another pair of a different colour. They're perfect for a night out cos they don't kill my (feet's) balls like my black pair does, nor do they kill my toes like my pumps do.

6 - Jiggling bOObs stepped down from podium. Nothing to watch le so I got hungry (for food) and we left. But we saw her on our way out and started laughing all over again! Sito regretted not saying something to her - I forgot what but it was funny! :p

7 - Had mee for supper and over-compensated for all that dancing.. Sito noticed old men looking at me.. Old men?! Very depressing to know I could only attract old men's eyes! Don't let me know next time =(

8 - Suddenly remember that the last time I went partying wasn't mambo three months back; I actually went to New Asia twice after that! But seems that that place is not for me, both times I felt rather lethargic. Or maybe it was a bad (hair?) day.

D'oh, don't have a 9! =/

Joyce Darling told the WHOLE DIVISION:

i want to complain!
i order my fishball mee from the gourmet restaurant@ 5th fl and the following dialogue took place...

brother 1(baldy specky): mf leh?
joyce: mf go out

(no service 5 min. only 1 person before joyce being served)

brother 1: you what?
joyce: kway teow dry packet

(brother 1 nods. still doing previous order)

brother 2 (wavy hair) appears. typical argument-talk between brothers.
brother 2: mf leh?
joyce: mf go out to eat

(brother 1 finished preparing the damn food.)

brother 2: you what?
joyce: kway teow dry packet

(brother 1 scolds brother 2 that the order is done)

brother 2 (smiling, to joyce): no mf then you no get.
joyce: wah lau.

(joyce, finally, after 10 mins, gets her food)

It's ok, my darling - you don't need their love (and nor do I :p) but you have mine :)

Too lazy to type in new post so I carry on..

Last night at Union, I asked Na if she had anything on after sending SZ tonight - she's flying to NZ and will be there for some time.

Na: Yes!
mf: Nvm then, thought want to ask you for Zouk..
Na: I'm flying to Bangkok right after SZ!

Kek?! I forgot she was leaving on the 9th as well.. Argh! So I'm sending two girls tonight.. Then Kel said his parents going to Shanghai same night too. Gee, I feel like going somewhere as well.. I know, I just came back! Sighs.. Well, shall content myself with some dancing tonight :p

Amazing Wed night

Amazing part I: first private lesson after Taiwan was Sunday. Shifu said I tried too hard and I thought I did horribly that day too. But after tango class last night, we practised our waltz and it was not bad - in fact I thought we did quite well! Perhaps the lovely music had a part to play: Flying Dreams. I love to feel that music and moving to it! Sometimes when I don't get it right, it can be frustrating; but at times, I just like to prance a bit without a care about the beat and rhythm..

And then the awkward thing, shall I say, evolved.. We were just happily practising when another teacher using the studio came to us and corrected our posture a bit. Cool, thanks. Later he was giving some tips to Dan and Tru and we joined in. Then suddenly he just asked us to learn under him for competition..

"-___-

All four of us are currently learning from Shifu lor..

-___-"

We were like um-ing and er-ing when he asked us to join him for drinks. None of us was keen but we were eventually pressured to go but for a short while. Outside the studio, Tru and I were exchanging phone numbers when he HIJACKED my Samsung and refused to return until we went for drinks so my phone stayed in his pocket for 10min while we drove down..

My poor phone.. *pout and whine*

Later he asked for my phone again, can't remember why.. I wasn't about to let him hijack my phone twice! But Sito offered his in exchange - this one must say: THANKS pal! :)

Funny side: I was supposed to call Tru to leave my number (which I sort of forgot for a while) but she didn't receive my call. She even verified the number I dialled. Later, she called me instead and a different number appeared on my phone: she had given me her bf's number earlier! Super right? And I thought I was the one with pink brains.. ピンクの頭 :p

Anyway, we were lucky for Shifu was having drinks at the same place - he was our saviour! We managed to finish our lime juice - in record time - for courtesy only, and left at Shifu's urging, thus avoiding further awkward moments between the two coaches about the four of us *shudders*

Now amazing part II.. We were on CTE when *gasp* this AE86 overtook us on our right! AE86! With 藤原とうふ店 (自家用) on the side ok! Takumi's car! But no, that was not all; quite immediately Dan saw a S13 right behind the AE86! I knew about AE86 cos of Initial D but I wasn't sure about S13 - it was Iketani's car in the anime.

So I was very excited and asked Dan to catch up with the 86 - I knew he could make it and I was right! We got up to the car in no time and as we passed, I waved hi to the driver :p He didn't see me (and anyway the 0.1 second look told me he was no Jay Chou) but it was fun! Later when he overtook us again on our left, Dan drove up enough for me to take a picture heh.. On my phone la, but it looked something like


Source: http://www.toysnjoys.com/jadatoys/1_24initialdtrueno.jpg

Cool, right?? :)

86 was gone after I took the pict but S13 drove up right behind him, again! No time for a pict this time but it was so fun! Heard from Dan that AE86 was no longer produced but a number were made cos of the movie; SG brought in six. And I saw one tonight! Beats any lamborghini any day man.. 藤原とうふ店! :)

Now I want to watch the anime..

Update 9 Dec 05

Told YQ last night about the 86 cos he liked Initial D.

YQ: You lag la, old news and, I've seen more than one already!
mf: *.*

I have a small statue of Aphrodite and..

"You are most like the Goddess Aphrodite! Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, fertility and desire. Although she was married she had many affairs with both other gods and men - most famously with Ares. Her husband Hephaestus caught them in a net he had made and paraded them in front of the other gods. Aphrodite is mean, vain and jealous, and most often depicted with a mirror.

What Greek God Are You? written by mellyelf on Ok Cupid"

And I scored 58, higher than 95% on Godliness compared to other people my age and gender. Oooh...

* I don't know where the line in blue came from; I chose monogamous option for the relevant question! Like the mirror part, haha!

Anyway, my statue of Aphrodite.. Got it together with my devotion statue from Greece, the latter broke if you recall an earlier post. I don't know why but I like Aphrodite, perhaps the name sounds good - eh fro dye tee. Don't like the roman name though - Venus.. But there really is no rationale reason for liking something - or someone for that matter - right? Eg I like Meh - and that's someone to me :)

mf-ism is back!

An aspect of mf-ism has been missing if you haven't realised: randomness. Or perhaps it has not been explicit recently. But anyway, I'm bringing mf-ism back!

Was on my way to the ladies just now and a yellow door-stopper flew out and landed right in front of my feet. I stopped short, looked left and saw the door to the gents closing. I blinked, and again, and carried on to the ladies.. The door was kept open by a red stopper so I had a full-length view of myself in the mirror.. Look at those hips! Yucks =( And my legs are not very long actually - I measure 169cm today, shoes just 1cm thick. I need to go shopping for more flattering clothes.

But, wrt the hips, in the past month (before Taipei!), four persons commented that I seemed to have lost weight - "you look smaller" Hope it's not just my already non-existent boobs (thanks ah, Joyce Darling.. But I still have, ahem, "accidents" with them) I still weigh the same though.. And, everyone underestimated my weight, I'm delighted :p

Was wearing this necklace from Taipei yesterday and standing under the scorching pm sun waiting for a cab to bring me to my dancing. Then I felt pain on my chest and brought my hand to my chest only to find my necklace burning! Took it off and dumped it in my bag for later.. Anyway waited 25min, was damn pissed! We need more cabs!

Met SL for dinner after dancing; he's in town these few days on business. Didn't eat the fish in No Signboard Seafood cos the nameless fish - just realised it didn't even have a name! =( - just died; it felt "criminal" to eat fish (I had a bite of fish for lunch that day, thought of the poor fish, and almost puked!) Then all 18 of us went to his room at the Ritz just like we would back in Oxford :) - the room was very nice and the view superb on the 26th floor! But my fav was the shining Xmas tree in the lobby :)

Oh yes, Xmas is upon us once more. Recently, two guys told me that Xmas could be a lonely/ sad time for them. But it had meant nothing but party for me all these years; this coming one would be no different.. Unless I suddenly want to go for mass to look see..? Heard some lovely Xmasy songs last night and decided to dig out my Xmas CDs and be joyous! But there is also the classic Lonely Christmas by Eason Chen that I love so much - I'll listen to that as well and be sad. Yes I'm strange!

Attended a very funny (the pastor) and touching (her bro wrote a song for her) church wedding on Sat; Cloud looked so happy and I'm infected with her happiness too - happiness is contagious. Also met a couple of other seniors and learnt that one of them got married some time ago. As of now, I have four friends getting married next year. At this rate, very soon I'll be counting friends who are single instead of friends who are married!

mf-ism is also contagious. Eg XY, eg Na.. Hmm, seems to infect girls only.. It may be YOU, HE or SHE who catches mf-ism but mf-ism will not be called YOU-ism, HE-ism or She-ism! mf is still the giant infector and will remain the primary carrier of all strands of mf-ism.

Now as lunch time comes to an end, I'll end with yet another quiz..


Remus Lupin
You are looking for someone sweet, intelligent, and understanding. Although he may have big troubles to overcome, with you by his side this wolfman will at least have a non-judgmental, loving romance.

Who is your Harry Potter love match? (for girls only)
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm a Hermione, but my match is not Ron??! But well, Lupin sounds like the right dose of excitment! :p Then again, at least Kel, YX and JD might go: what about girls? Cos they think I'm bi, old story stemming from this corporate newsletter thingy, where HR asked me to be one of their "company bachelors and bachelorettes" and to give my take on love in a one-liner. I said my idea of love may not be company friendly - and I never heard from them again! Was relating this to the guys over dinner and somehow the thing about me being able to be BOTH bachelor and bachelorette came about, and tada! I'm bi.. You decide if that's true..

Oh, one more: have you ever seen a roach that sniggers and then watches you as you sleep?? Check out the cute Guo Mei Mei MTV :) Don't get me wrong, I still hate 3D roaches..

Ok, last one, really! Some time last week, I realised I could be easily amused. Some people are so smug, so full of themselves, that I simply let them be while I sit back and enjoy the show they put up based on their misconstrued, self-perceived assumptions. Go ahead, make a fool of yourself for my amusement! *evil like the sniggering roach*

Food list

Realised I didn't mention the food we had during the trip.. Thanks Kel for compiling the first half; I added all others I could remember, my faves in bold:

香肠，生煎包，超大鸡扒，蜜汁鸡扒，章鱼烧，糖葫芦，热狗，水饺，榨酱面，萝卜糕，土司，小龙包，冰红茶，臭豆腐，阿美豆花，烧仙草，肉羹面，螃蟹羹，油饭，果汁冰沙，蛋包饭，八宝饭，葱油饼，鲁肉，花生卷包冰淇淋，芋头糕，刀削面，面线